🏀 KuBuckets Archive

@jaybate-1.0

No agreement from me. 17-18 year old players are not the same as 19-20 year old players. All thing being equal, a 17 year old is quite different physically and mentally than a 20 year old player, all your howling notwithstanding.

Bagley is 1.5 years younger and Ayton 1 year younger than Preston and both are dominating. DeSousa is older than Bagley and about the same age as Ayton. Azubuike is younger than all of them and doing fine at KU. Preston has been with team since the Summer and he is as fit as any of the other players. DeSousa attended an elite basketball prep school where preparing players for the next level is Job One and both faced top competition before joining KU. There is no reason why Preston and DeSousa could not compete in Division I; familiarity with KU's playbook will be the primary limitation for DeSousa and less so for Preston.

@jaybate-1.0

No agreement from me. 17-18 year old players are quite different than 19-20 year old players. All things being equal, a 17 year old is nowhere close to a 20 year old. You can howl all you want but it does not change the facts.

Preston has been with program since the summer and he is as as conditioned as any of the players and DeSousa has been playing at a basketball prep academy where preparing players for the next level is mission 1. Bagley is 1.5 years younger and Ayton half a year younger than Preston and they are both domination with no problems; Azubuike is younger than all of them and he is doing just fine. There is no reason why Preston or DeSousa could not do the same. considering how long he has been in the program.

@drgnslayr

He has also taken more charges than anyone in the team, something that stats don't show. I though a couple of the fouls on him last night were unwarranted. At one time, the refs had called 16 fouls on KU and only 6 on Stanford and it was pretty one sided until Stanford started to foul more in the second half trying to get back into the game and the final count was KU 18 fouls and Stanford 14.

Lightfoot leads the team in blocks and is 6th in the conference; he is playing considerably less mpg than the players ahead of him.

@dylans

I would not go that far. Both coaches made adjustments at half time and both defenses stepped up and the game slowed down. Nothing new for KU which has consistently scored more in the first half.

I believe Coach Self is giving minutes now to players he thinks will help the most down the line. Garret is the team's best defender and best rebounder and once his offense comes around he will be a valuable contributor later in the season.

I have been pleasantly surprised by Cunliffe. Based on what I saw earlier, I did not think he would contribute much but I am changing my mind and now think that he will contribute this season and with his athleticism and strength he can almost play PF. If Preston becomes available, it is a whole new ballgame and KU is back as a top 5 team.

@nuleafjhawk

At the time KSU hired Snyder, the programs was as bad or worse than what KU's program is now and it would have hired anyone with a pulse. With Snyder, it ended up winning the lottery as he truly turned the program around and made it a consistent winner; however he had been an assistant coach a 3 othre schools prior to KSU. Sean Snyder has spent his entire career at KSU initially in administrative positions and moving up to his current position of Assistant HC and Special Teams Coordinator. As I understand, he does not have any experience coaching offense or defense only special teams; he was a very good punter when he played at KSU.

Here is an article ↗ on how Currie wanted Leavitt as the next HC only to have Snyder nix the deal. Apparently Leavitt has a clause in his contract with Oregon that would allow him to leave without a buyout to become KSU Head Coach.

I am sure that, much like all major programs, KU has been in contact with the NCAA through unofficial, backdoor channels and has pretty good idea of what will happen. I bet KU lawyers are parked at the NCAA compliance office waiting for the good word. I will guess that KU has been unofficially told the the decision would be handed in today and it will be a 9-12 game suspension which he has already served; it would explain what Coach Self has been saying.

@HighEliteMajor

Yes and no. Lightfoot can play better than he has so far if he plays his true position which is SF or PF but not Center where he is over matched, much like Perry was when he played out of position. Preston can play PF or Center although stretch PF is his preference.

You can play Doke and Preston, rest Doke and play Preston and Lightfoot, rests Preston and Lightfoot and play Doke and 4 guards like now, rest Doke and Lightfoot and Play Preston and 4 guards (intriguing lineup). You can see the possibilities and you can see how combining the 3 bigs with a 1-4 lineup at times, basically eliminates the perceived thinness at the front.

Remember that Kevin Young was only 6'8' and 190 pounds which smaller than Svi. Also, Cunliffe and his freakish athleticism plays taller than his listed 6'6" height that for the first time at KU appears to be under reported.

Like I said, if I were a betting man I would have thought that grades would do Preston in, not a car; hard to anticipate something so stupid.

@Crimsonorblue22

No, Lightfoot is not a backup for Doke, but if KU wants to go big it could do it with Preston and Lightfoot and have the outside shot to boot. Preston not playing has been the main issue and grades was the original concern and once he was cleared who would have thought a car would end up being the real issue, not me and obviously not the KU staff either.

@Crimsonorblue22

All commentary was related to the game and the programs, a nice change from previous games.

@Crimsonorblue22

KSU is under the impression it can get a big name coach; I am not so sure that will happen. KSU dropped quite a bit when Snyder retired before and will drop again when he retires for the last time.

Stanford must pay the refs really well, 16 fouls on KU only 6 on Stanford.

ESPN has Lawson on the scoreboard.😂

Teams are moving away from Centers and using PFs instead. The Cavaliers start 3 PFs,
LeBron as SF and one PG. The two Centers for the Warriors average just over 20 mpg combined. Two PFs that can hit from outside and rebound are better than one Center.

It is really not a secret. I heard from KSU alumni that Snyder has been wanting to retire but has not done it because KSU will not agree to have his son take over the program. Many fans are starting to resent Snyder treating the program as his personal property...much like the power cat logo which he apparently owns and from which he derives royalties.

@HighEliteMajor

Coach Self has always indicated that by conference play he likes to have an 8 man rotation which is what KU has now, not even counting Preston; with him it’s a solid 9 man rotation.

I am not sure what is the big deal about recruiting. Had Preston not had the car issue KU is doing fine and no one is taking about depth issues. Next year KU has the #2 class with still one more player to get. If KU gets one the players it has been pursuing it will likely move to #1 and this does not even consider the Lawsons and Moore who were all top 40 players and when included it makes up for likely the best class ever at KU.

Considering that in the last 10 years KU has the best record in college basketball while playing in one of the thougher if not the toughest conference means that it has had lots of quality players; you just don’t get to have the best record with average players.

The main factor affecting recruiting is location. As much as we like Lawrence, it is not the preferred destination for the largely urban group that makes up the bulk of the top prospects.

@BeddieKU23

The Wolves are on track to make the playoffs which is a big improvement for a team that has been left out for so long. It is a young team with good potential and in a couple of years it could be a contender.

Same thing with the Sixers, except if the playoff were today they would be out of it but they are only 3 games behind 4th place and a lot of games to make up 3 measly games. The key is keeping Embiid and Simmons healthy since they are their ticket to post season play.

@Crimsonorblue22

Don't the referees have a an association/union that can file a complaint with the NCAA? DickItch openly questioned their professionalism and called them biased and in the back pocket of the big programs. If I were a referee I would be extremely offended.

@REHawk

I am on Sling TV and the delay is well over 30 seconds. At one time against Omaha the score was 62-29 but Live Stats showed it to be 62-35; Omaha scored 2 3pointers in the delay alone. I cheated and saw the KU-Nebraska final score before the game was over n the regular broadcast.

There is free software available that you can use on a computer to delay the radio transmission and synchronize it with the game broadcast. I will have to try that and see if I can listen to a radio broadcast instead of the unbearable commentators.

@approxinfinity

Happy Birthday!!!:champagne: :champagne_glass: :birthday:

@wrwlumpy

Embiid did not play otherwise the Sixer would have likely won.

@Kcmatt7

Preston and Cunliffe have been with the programs for a while now and should blend in quickly; Silvio will definitely take longer.

The upside of this is that KU will continue to get better with the additions and hopefully fly under the radar and peak around Tournament time.

@REHawk

If h continues to play at level close to where he is playing now, I just don't see how he would not be a lottery pick.

Here are a couple of related tweets...

!0_1513791010356_upload-b7d1ce9e-8ec9-4a32-ad5e-6361e86dd437 ↗

!0_1513791059654_upload-d1779c0b-d850-42eb-8675-61693a85bea6 ↗

Here is a link ↗ to the CJ story.

@BShark

Greene was plenty athletic and was rebounding decently towards the end of his KU stay; he just did not like to mix it up inside and preferred lurking outside to shoot 3s.

I remember a pretty decent OU player in 2016 that was:

• John R. Wooden Award (2016)
• Naismith College Player of the Year (2016)
• Oscar Robertson Trophy (2016)
• Sporting News College Player of the Year (2016)
• Consensus first-team All-American (2016)

His name is Buddy Hield. KU beat that team twice including a 3 OT thriller at AFH and a more comfortable win in Norman. Trae Young notwithstanding, KU will beat OU again.

I read that Texas offered to a recruit from Texas (whose name escapes me) that had committed to KU. I guess he will not be signing with KU...

@KUSTEVE

Indeed and it was a very efficient 16 points, 7-9 from the field and 2-2 from 3.

Here is an article by Andy Katz ↗ about KU and the possible play of Preston and De Souza on the NCAA website.

Here is another by Jeff Goodman ↗ about KU with comments from other coaches about KU’s issues.

By the way, DeSouza turned 19 in Octoberand Preston turned 20 also in October, not quite 17-18 year old kids.

@drgnslayr

In all fairness, over 180,000 potential student athletes register with the NCAA every year and the great majority that submit a complete application in a timely manner are processed without any issues. Now, if the application is not submitted on time or is incomplete, then it is not fair to expect the NCAA to process it in time like the others.

I used to have a sign on my office door that read...Lack of planning on YOUR part does not constitute an emergency on MY part. Perhaps prospects, particularly foreign prospects, should not wait until the last minute to start the process and expect a quick turnaround, it is not fair to the ones that follow the rules.

@drgnslayr

...like the OJ Simpson Bronco police chase during the Knicks - Rockets NBA playoff game?

@Apologist

I could have done without the split screen and DickItch reading tweets; I want to watch the game not him.

The tree has to be one of the more absurd official or non-official mascot in college sports; right up there with the Fighting Okra and Artie the Fighting Artichoke.

I understand announcing teams are assigned to conferences by day of the week at the beginning of the season. This link ↗ has a list of the various teams and conferences and looks like we get "feeling groovy" Walton on Thursday.

@elpoyo

You post here...our standards are obviously non existent. :smiley:

@Crimsonorblue22

He was not only an assistant coach for 9 years at UNC (4 at KU) but also the HC of the Junior Varsity team, same as Roy Williams and we know where Williams loyalties ended up.

Like I said, he has been and great Jayhawk alumnus but he has been removed from Kansas for almost 15 yeas, most of those at UNC. I did not say he is not loyal to KU but he is "better related" to UNC because of his more recent involvement with that program and Coach Williams in particular who has been his mentor.

The Kings are playing Wednesday at Brooklyn and their next games is Saturday home against San Antonio; I imagine they fly out late Wednesday or early Thursday. Hopefully Mason will be able to attend the game.

Interesting, Hasse's career high in points is 30... against Temple. :smile:

Although he played and coached at KU, he is now better related to Roy Williams and North Carolina, although he has always been a great Jayhawk alumnus.

@drgnslayr

Here is the link ↗, I also posted it in another thread.

The problem with Udoka is that he still does not know how to get position on offense or defense. On offense he does not put himself in a good position to receive the pass inside but when he does he has now some shake and bake moves that make him fairly effective; his lack of position also prevents him from getting offensive rebounds effectively. On defense he is drawn away from the basket way too often and again, he is not in position to prevent the layup or block it or get the defensive rebound; he was supposed to be the big rim protector and penetration stopper and he really is not; Lightfoot has more blocks and has taken more charges than him playing considerably less minutes.

Look at this article from Jesse Newel ↗, particularly where he has side by side video of Lucas and Udoka and the big difference in position. Once Udoka learns ho to get position he will be unstoppable.

@Hawk8086

I think Preston would be the bigger helper. Hopefully we get to see him play.

@DoubleDD

He probably found the stash Walton lost under the announcers table. What other explanation could there be?

@nwhawkfan

By the early 80s I believe it was called just the Sanctuary, The deck upstairs was great in the Summer. I used to see KU basketball players, including Manning, there all the time.

@nwhawkfan

Wow, the Sanctuary...it was my home away from home when I lived in Lawrence late '70s to late '80s. Tuesday dime draw and Thursday quarter pitcher nights were the best; they also had great specials on burgers and steaks. I knew the owner, Ace, and his wife and all the bartenders and often we would stay after hours to party and shoot pool for decent money. Best looking waitresses to boot.

@drgnslayr

Doke's main problem is getting himself in potion to receive the pass or rebound. Jesse Newell (I think) had an article with side by side video of Lucas and Doke that showed how much better Lucas was at getting himself in position to receive a pass or to rebound.

There are three things that need to happen for DeSouza to be able to enroll at the break. His test score must meet minimum requirements; this apparently is done. He needs to complete course work at his current school with passing grades and graduate; this is yet to be determined since schools are not quite out yet but likely will happen, Last, his complete transcript need to be sent to the NCAA and approved like any other student and this might be the biggest issue. He had not originally planned to join KU until next fall so he probably thought he had plenty of time and now we are in Diallo territory. Can't really blame the NCAA if the transcript have not been sent in a timely manner.

@Big-Clyde52

I agree. Any loss at AFH is a bad loss regardless of who KU plays.

ASU is legit but, much like KU, its Achilles heel is that they play a 7 man rotation which can be an issue when whistle happy refs are calling the game or towards the end of the season and post season when it is going to have tired players.

@wissox

There is no question that Wilt was a once in a generation athletic freak that would do well even 70 years later.

The average athlete now is stronger, jumps higher and is faster than even the better athletes of 50 year ago, it is a natural evolution resulting from much better training, diet, technology and life styles now that were not available way back then. Because of these factors, comparing athletes from different eras is not easy or fair.

@truehawk93

That game was not even close. Vanderbilt jumped to a quick start but ASU recovered, caught up and was up by 1 at half time. In the second half it upped the lead to 20 before coasting to an easy 12 point final margin.